Post Classifieds
Ladies reach SUNYAC finals, fall to Cortland
By Aaron Garland
On November 7, 2012
Despite the Buffalo State women's volleyball team having its most successful season in program history,
they left their home court heartbroken Sunday.
A 3-0 loss to No. 17-ranked Cortland in the SUNYAC finals on Sunday effectively ended the season for a
Bengals team that finished with the highest winning percentage (.765) and third most wins (26) in school
history.
"It's bittersweet," coach Maria DePeters said. "It was an amazing season and it stinks we had to end on
a loss like that, but it just really makes me look forward to the future."
With a season that saw a plethora of achievements and school records, the positives of the year
significantly outweigh the blemish against Cortland at the Sports Arena.
"We should all hold our heads high knowing that we are the best volleyball team Buff State has ever
had," junior Sarah Horvath said. "Getting a banner in our gym would have been incredible, but our time
will come soon."
After earning the right to host conference playoffs for the first time in school history, the Bengals (26-8,
6-0 SUNYAC) received a bye into Saturday's semifinals, where they swept New Paltz, 3-0.
The Bengals got off to a slow start in the first set, committing a number of unforced errors, digging
themselves into a 5-0 hole.
With the deficit at 5-8, the Bengals got the spark they needed when senior Sherrell McLean had a
thunderous kill to ignite emotion from the team and home crowd. From that point, the Bengals went on
a 19-10 run to close out the set, 25-18.
DePeters commended the team's ability to quickly get over the early jitters.
"(We) got away from the game plan a little bit that we had for New Paltz and I think that they then
gradually started to pick it up by getting back to the game plan," DePeters said. "By one great block or
one great hit, it helped bring momentum to the team again."
A slow start forced the Bengals to come from behind in the second set as well. New Paltz took an early
9-5 lead.
After trading points back-and-forth, New Paltz was clinging to a late 18-16 lead when DePeters called a
timeout to prepare her team for the stretch run of the set.
"We talked about unforced errors," DePeters said. "We talked how really it wasn't good volleyball on
either side of the court. It was just about the team who was making the least amount of errors, so we
need(ed) to be that team making the least amount."
They cut down the errors and closed the set on a 9-3 run, including the final four points.
A big closing run also guided the Bengals to victory in the third set, finishing off the Hawks with 15 of the
final 22 points.
"They played confident, they had composure. When we made errors, we found a way to make it better
and we played consistently and that's a big thing you have to (do) at this point in the year," DePeters
said.
Sophomore Sam Parente led the team with 10 kills, while freshman Hannah Renaldo and McLean each
had eight kills to go with two blocks. Junior Kelsey Bashore finished with 32 assists.
Junior Chelsea Moore had 26 digs, while Horvath added 15 of her own along with four kills.
Sunday's match against Cortland marked the Bengals second appearance in the SUNYAC title game, their
first coming in 1997. They had their hands full as the Red Dragons came in as back-to-back conference
champions and owners of 18 SUNYAC titles overall.
"We felt ready," Horvath said of the team's mindset heading into the title match. "We've played a lot of
high caliber teams this year and when we bring our best volleyball like we did (against New Paltz), we
can compete with anyone."
The Bengals certainly did not back down from the national power, fighting off three set points in the first
set to tie the score at 24. Cortland would win the set 26-24 with the next two points, however.
Cortland would use a big run of its own to take control and win the second set. Tied at 15, the Red
Dragons went on a 10-5 run to take a commanding 2-0 lead.
The hopes of raising the program's first SUNYAC championship banner came to an end in the deciding
third set. Again, the team's traded points for a majority of the match, as the score was locked at 15 once
again.
A 10-6 run by the Red Dragons did in the Bengals' season. DePeters said mental mistakes were the
team's Achilles heel in the match.
"We just made a lot of unforced errors that we shouldn't have made and I think that just came down to
nerves and mental toughness," DePeters said.
McLean led the way with nine kills for the Bengals. Parente chipped in eight kills and five blocks. Bashore
contributed 22 assists and 11 digs and Moore added 28 digs.
Parente and Moore were each named to the All-Tournament team for their efforts in the two games.
Horvath believes the experience the team gained this weekend should bode well for the future of the
team, one that will seemingly make another run at the title in 2013.
"Getting a taste of how it feels to both win and lose big games this weekend is something I won't forget
and it'll only make us more motivated next season," Horvath said.
Losing out on an automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament by virtue of winning the SUNYAC, the Bengals
still had a chance to make the tournament as an at-large bid. However, they were not chosen during
Monday's selection show.
Even after the selection show, the Bengals were still breaking records, though. They had a school record
five players named to SUNYAC All-Conference teams.
Bashore was named SUNYAC West Player of the Year and was named to the All-SUNYAC West first team.
Moore and Parente also earned first-team honors.
Renaldo earned SUNYAC West Rookie of the Year. She and McLean were named to the second team.
With losing just three seniors and just one starter in McLean, the core of the team will return next
season ready to finish what it started.
"Our starting lineup basically is going to be coming back next year," Parente said. "It's just really nice to
make history and hopefully next year we can even go past what we did this year."
Aaron Garland can be reached by email at garland.record@live.com.
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